Restless Hearts
by Cielita
Summary: rated for violence. pairings include MMRL and SSPP. A collaborative effort between myself and Sky Rains! Minerva finds love in a place she never expected.
1. Chapter 1

Restless Hearts  
  
Minerva McGonagall never really liked going down into the dungeons. It was just one of those things that were a necessary part of her job as Deputy Headmistress, but it didn't make it any easier. She and Severus Snape had gotten along purely on a respectful common ground, but seeing the Quidditch cups from years before made her fur stand on end.  
On this occasion, she walked the stone paths to the dungeons, the only sound she hears being the sound of her shoes clicking on the floor. As she approached Professor Snape's office and living quarters, she heard something she never expected to hear: singing. She slowed her pace and walked a bit more softly as she approached, listening as the words of a song poured from a man's soul.  
"Never knew I could feel like this, like I've never seen the sky before.  
Want to vanish inside your kiss, everyday I love you more and more.  
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing? Telling me to give you everything?  
Seasons may change, winter to spring, but I love you, until the end of time.  
Come what may! Come what may! I will love you until my dying day!"  
Minerva was stunned. Was that Severus? She could hear a piano playing in the background and she wondered idly who was playing for him. As she neared the door, she peered in the key hole and nearly died of shock. She had not had a clue! Her suspicions were confirmed when a cool, clear mezzo-soprano rang out the second verse of the well known muggle tune.  
"Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place,  
suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace,  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste,  
It all revolves around you."  
Then he sang with her,  
"and there's no mountain too high  
no river too wide  
sing out this song and I'll be there by your side  
storm clouds may gather and storms may collide  
but I love you,(I love you!) until the end of time.  
Come what may! Come what may!  
I will love you until my dying day!  
Oh come what may! Come what may!  
I will love you! (I will love you!)  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place!"  
Suddenly, Minerva felt like she shouldn't be there. Leave them to their song. But the sound of Severus' resonating tenor was smooth and almost intoxicating. She hid around the corner and peered around the side as the door swung open and Severus escorted his lovely pianist out into the hall. He cupped her face in his hands and Minerva imagined that he was smiling. After looking at her for what seemed like eternity, he leaned over and kissed her tenderly. His companion slid her long, slender arms up from where they had been on his chest and wound them over his shoulders and around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. The woman laid her head on Severus' shoulder as he wound his arms around her, holding her in the most sensual of embraces.  
"I love you, so much," he murmured to her. After this, he kissed her again lightly on the lips and disappeared back into his room, his hand lingering in hers as long as possible before she walked away and her fingertips slid away from his. Minerva was stunned. He was still humming the song as he wandered back into his rooms and closed the door. Minerva decided not to stop and talk to Severus just now. She slinked off back to her room, scolding herself for being so bullheaded with her own love life. Sheesh. Even a Slytherin could find love at Hogwart's. So what was she doing wrong?  
  
It seemed darker than before when she reached her own dorms. She sat back on the couch to ingest this new information--Severus had someone. Something she would have never expected in her entire life. Hell, she didn't think anyone would have expected it. She curled up like the cat she was, pressing her fingers to her temples, attempting to rid herself of the guilt she had rested on her shoulders. She could have just left and never seen any of that, but no. She had to be the curious, slightly stubborn Gryffindor she was and just HAD to know. A soft knock on the door made her start momentarily, before she uncurled herself and made her way to the door, albeit hesitantly. What if it was Severus? Had he seen her?  
She rested her hand on the handle, taking a deep breath. She nearly fainted in relief when she saw it was only a tired-looking Remus Lupin, an even more worn book in his hands.  
"Hello, Professor. I just remembered to return the book you let me borrow. It was quite enjoyable, I thank you." She took the book and nodded.  
"Thank you for remembering to return it. I was a bit apprehensive on letting you borrow it: Albus almost never returns the ones he borrows from me." He laughed softly.  
"Well, Professor Lupin, it's getting rather late. Shall I be seeing you tomorrow at the Hogsmeade outing?" She nearly made a face. A bunch of students on Honeydukes candy. What fun.  
"Indeed you will be." He inclined his head slightly. She ducked her head in goodbye as well and went to shut the door. Remus placed a hand on the frame and frowned.  
"Professor, are you okay? You didn't look exactly chipper when you opened the door." She ogled at him with a wary expression. How in the world did he know that she was a little down at the moment? He gave her a dry smile.  
"Werewolf senses." She averted her eyes in shame. She should have known. 'Well, that was smart,' she thought with a bitter tone to herself. She took a breath and met the eyes of Remus again.  
"No, there is nothing wrong, Remus. I'm perfectly fine," she said with a cheery tone, attempting to cover up something she knew she couldn't hide. He studied her with a look of concern.  
"You sure you don't want to talk or something? I won't tell anyone anything."  
Why did that sound so inviting? She quietly exited her rooms and leaned against the wall. He sounded so sincere, so concerned. The last time someone had been truly concerned about her was when her mother died, fifteen years before. Yet, that was out of pure sympathy, not the fact that he had actually wanted to help her. Lupin moved to her side and waited for her to begin. Once she did, she felt she couldn't stop. 


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, Remus," she began, "I realized today that one of our colleagues is romantically involved and I was feeling a little.well.out of the loop."  
"Chicken? No. The bravest woman I've ever known? Oh, yeah. I've always thought it very noble that you've remained um.well.pure.all these years," Remus began. Minerva fought the urge to slug him. How did he figure this stuff out? It never ceased to amaze her that her students were the ones who could be the most perceptive. Remus was far from her student anymore. He was a colleague. And a rather handsome one at that. Perhaps it was his tousled, messy dark blonde hair, or was it his eyes? There was something about his eyes that she could easily relax with.  
"Something tells me that that's not really what's on your mind, Minerva," Remus said. Her heart skipped a beat. He had never pronounced her first name before. Why was that so attractive? Minerva turned her blue scrutiny to meet his chocolate hued orbs. She never really noticed how rugged his features were or how much that turned her on. She wasn't sure if Remus' request to hear her woes had been innocent concern or if that truly was affection beneath his gaze, but she was about to find out.  
"Are you all right?" Remus asked, his voice seemed to soften at this. Something had changed in her azure eyes.  
"You've never used my name before," she said breathlessly. Why was her heart pounding? Remus swallowed. He took her by the hand and pulled her inside the room, shutting the door and sitting down beside her on the bed. He wasted no time brushing a hand over her face and pulling her close to kiss her. To his surprise, she didn't resist. His mind reveled in the things he was imagining as she pushed his professor's robes off his shoulders. Gently, he eased her hair down out of the bun she wore it in and gingerly pulled her glasses from her nose and fumbled to put them on the coffee table beside them.  
Minerva never noticed Remus' tightly muscled arms before. She could feel his biceps through the smooth, soft material of his shirt and fought a shiver as his hands wrapped around her back. His right hand dipped to her lower back and his thumb worked small miraculous circles in that one place that always managed to ache at the end of the day. Some alarm in her mind going off, she pulled back.  
"We shouldn't be doing this, Remus," she gasped.  
"What's wrong? Was it something I did?" he asked, his hand gently rubbing her back. God, that felt so good to be held. She reached up to touch his face, leaning her forehead against his. Her hand worked through his hair a little. It was a bit coarse, but she liked it all the same. His other hand inched in underneath her emerald robes and around her waist, his thumb brushing dangerously close to her bosom. Minerva inhaled sharply, unsure why she couldn't seem to get her heartbeat out of her ears. Remus' breath was hot on her cheek, and gingerly, he leaned forward to kiss her jaw line and then her earlobe. Minerva shuddered.  
"I don't care how old we are, Minerva," Remus whispered, "In my opinion, a man would be a fool to overlook the obvious advantages of a mature woman." Minerva couldn't seem to breathe. Remus pushed her robes over her shoulders and kissed her lips again, sending her mind into a spin. Every inch of her tingled at his touch.  
"Remus," Minerva began.  
"You need someone who's going to treat you like the goddess you are," Remus continued, once again kissing her jaw line and the hollow of her throat, "For centuries, muggles worshiped a great goddess who was not simply born, but sprung fully grown and in full armor from the head of Zeus. She was relentless in her pursuits, stern in her ruling, and possibly the most beautiful goddess on Olympus." Minerva's pulse was pounding.  
"Remus." she started again. A humorous thought crossed her mind: a dog and a cat, together. She smiled as she let Remus push her backwards onto bedspread. There was something boyish in his charm and something amazingly masculine in the way he seemed to reverence her with every stroke of his hands on her skin. His kiss was meandering down over her collar bone and her body ached to find out just how far he would go. Suddenly, without warning, he pulled away and looked up at her.  
"You're right. We shouldn't be doing this. You're so vulnerable right now, and I don't want to take advantage of that," Remus said, stroking her face again. She leaned into the touch.  
"Don't.don't stop." She didn't know where that came from, but the look on Remus' face was perfect.  
"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice weak with emotion. Minerva reached up to stroke his face, relishing the effect this had on him. He leaned into her hand, holding it to his cheek and kissing it. Gently, Remus worked open the buttons on her blouse, raising gooseflesh on now exposed skin. A tingling feeling raced up and down Minerva's spine as he held her, driving her impulse to mimic him and reach for the buttons on his shirt. When she pushed it over his shoulders, he let it drop to the floor, hardly taking his eyes off her. Minerva had to fight to marshal her reactions. His chest and torso were as muscled as his arms, perfect, firm pectorals crowned rippling abdominals, and a tan not of this earth forced Minerva's awareness into a die-hard adrenaline rush. A whimper of excitement escaped Minerva's lips as Remus slowly lowered himself over her, smiling as she gasped at the sensation of his skin against hers. Remus was beginning to think that he was going to have control of this little escapade, but he soon discovered that Minerva had other ideas.  
Hours later, after the sun had set, Minerva awoke tucked into Remus' arms. She felt a sense of security that had never been there before as she burrowed deeper under the covers, considering the evening was a bit chilly. Her movement woke Remus up by accident. He gently ran a hand through her loose locks, startling her a little. She rolled over and smiled at Remus, who murmured a hello. She rested her head against his chest, listening to the continuous sound of his heartbeat. It was silent otherwise, his hand still entangled in her black curls.  
"How did I ever live without you?" Remus murmured.  
"I was just thinking the very same thing," Minerva whispered. The two spent the early part of the evening deep in each others inseparable company. Remus read out loud to her, gave her a massage, and almost laughed out loud as he indulged in kissing various tender areas of her body and she whimpered, gasped and moaned at his touch and kiss. In turn, Minerva, later in the night, had taken a small piece of ice from the bucket that the house elves had brought their champagne up in earlier, and smiled in delight as his muscles tensed and he gasped and moaned.  
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked breathlessly.  
"For me to know and you to never find out. A mature woman's got to have her secrets," said Minerva, lifting a segment of her hair out of her face.  
When night fell, the pair was asleep again, wrapped up in each others arms. Exhaustion had once again consumed them, and Minerva could still feel her heart pounding and her muscles quivering as she drifted off to sleep.  
It was morning. Minerva brought a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun that filtered through the windows. Someone caught that hand on it's way up and kissed her palm, sending a shiver through her spine. She rolled over and opened her eyes fully, watching a softly smiling Remus on her side. She sighed, wishing they could stay like this forever.but, they had breakfast to attend, and personally, she was quite hungry.  
"Remus.I think we have to get up."  
"Do we really have to?" She shot him a look, a look he remembered from his school days. He ducked his head and tried to look ashamed of himself, but it didn't work. Minerva pushed him gently, laughing softly.  
"I thought Sirius was the prankster, not y-" She clamped her mouth shut. How could she have been so stupid as to bring up Sirius? It was still a sore topic with Remus. Something flashed in his eyes for a moment, before he merely let it slip. Minerva leaned over and kissed him softly.  
"I'll be in the shower." Remus was staring out the window with a pensive look on his face as Minerva went to her bathroom. Seconds after the water started, Remus followed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly, Remus fingered the door jamb. Was this right? Perhaps he was going too far. The heart in his chest beat in determination as he opened the door, peering in to see Minerva's barely visible form surrounded by water and steam. Slowly, Remus dropped his robe on the floor and gingerly pulled back the door. Minerva jumped a bit, startled by the presence of him. Her hair was wound haphazardly up on her head, and she blushed a bit at the man's smile as he stepped into the shower with her. Minerva shook as he pulled her back against his chest. Gently, he nudged her head to one side and kissed her neck as his hands swept across her mid-section and over her thighs. The water made touching easy, their hands gliding over each other with fluid ease. Minerva turned in Remus' arms and kissed him, a moan escaping him as he tightened his grip on her and deepened the kiss. Gently, he backed Minerva against the tile walls of the shower. She gasped as her warm, bare flesh met with the cold tile. Remus continued to kiss her, pressing himself against her. She whimpered as his hands brushed over her breasts and gently massaged her back.  
"God, Minerva, I love you so much!" Remus cried, letting Minerva return the favor and turn them around so that he was the one against the wall. The play continued a while and the two washed and got out of the shower. Remus took one of the large bath sheets hung neatly beside the shower and wrapped Minerva in it after wrapping another around his waist. Minerva smiled as he insisted upon helping her dry off.  
After getting dressed, the new lovers proceeded to breakfast. Remus held the door to the great hall for her, and the couple looked for all the world like they had simply caught up with one another in the hallway.  
Between her classes that day, Minerva got to thinking about the previous night. It must have been terribly obvious, because when Rolanda Hooch caught up with her, she noticed too.  
"Minerva McGonagall, you're glowing!" Rolanda gasped.  
"I'm what?"  
"You look completely different! It's like you changed completely over night!" said Rolanda, "Who is he?" Minerva stopped in her tracks and whirled to face her friend.  
"What?"  
"Who is he? I've only seen that look on your face once before, and that was when--" Rolanda stopped herself involuntarily. The look that Minerva was glaring at her with did more than the words "shut up" could possibly have done. Minerva's love life had always been a touchy subject. As the two professors proceeded down the hall, Rolanda ventured again, "Is he cute?" the two laughed like girls again as Minerva hugged her best friend tight.  
That evening, Remus was sitting in the faculty lounge waiting for Minerva. He had sent word to her to meet him there, and for now, he sat back and relaxed, remembering what Minerva had looked like as he had first encountered her the previous afternoon: isolated, lonesome, upset and then remembered how she had responded to his touch and his love and smiled. Her exquisite blue eyes had shined like he had never seen before. At length, he imagined how his friends, the marauders, would have reacted to this.  
"You slept with who?" James would have said.  
"Are you crazy?" Peter would have chimed in.  
"Only crazy in love," Remus would have replied.  
"She better be a tornado between the sheets for you to have taken a risk like that!" Sirius would have said. They all would have laughed and whapped Sirius with a pillow or something else soft and laughed some more. Moony would only have shaken his head and chuckled at them.  
Remus sat back in his chair and imagined the other night. He remembered her little trick with the ice and shuddered as he breathing increased. My God, what had this woman done to him?  
Upstairs in Minerva's room, she was brushing out her long hair. She hummed softly with each stroke of the brush and swept the top half of her hair into a neat ponytail. She was hoping that Remus would like it this way. Rolanda had told her that it would take years off her face and as Minerva looked into the mirror, she noted that indeed it had. She smiled and yet another half a decade melted from her delicate Scottish features. She rose from the vanity and jumped as thunder cracked across the western sky. Minerva shuddered a bit before standing up. She observed her new robes in the mirror. She wore the same black dress that she wore on a daily basis, but instead of her heavy teacher's robes, she was wearing a slightly shimmering, almost sheer robe in the same shade of green. It was lovely the way it seemed to kiss the light in the room and softly shimmer back. She didn't even notice the movement in the shadows as she reached for the doorknob. A man draped completely in black swooped down on her, clutching her in his arms. A suddenly terrified Minerva fought to reach for her wand, but she was clamped too tightly to move. Her assailant forced her across the threshold into the next room with him and onto the couch in her sitting room. Overwhelmingly strong, the attacker had no problem subduing Minerva. She tried to scream, but he had cast a quieting charm on her and she couldn't even so much as whisper. The harder the attacker forced himself on her, the weaker Minerva was getting. God, where was Remus?  
Downstairs, Remus once again looked at his father's pocket watch. It kept perfect time, and Minerva was terribly late. It wasn't like her to be so late, and Remus made up his mind to go up and find out what was going on. As he neared her room, he began to hope that everything was all right. At the bottom of the last staircase, he broke into a run. His werewolf senses were off the charts. When he approached the door, he could hear shuffling inside and the sounds of another man in the room, but he couldn't hear Minerva. Remus kicked the door in as hard as he could and stepped inside, but his heart nearly stopped at what he saw. Remus felt his protective, canine instincts raging, and it was only getting worse as he observed Minerva's fear. He couldn't see the attacker through his mask, but he certainly gave Remus a good fight.  
The attacker rolled off the couch and lunged at Remus, nearly knocking over a table and easily crushing a chair. Minerva had curled up and hidden her face as soon as the man had leapt from his position and Remus growled in unchecked anger. The two tussled for an eternity before the man pinned Remus to the floor and pulled a dagger from his cloak. Remus was reaching for his wand when a voice cried out, "STUPEFY!"  
Remus rolled the unconscious body of the attacker off of himself and stood, taking his own wand and adding the words, "Petrificus Totalus!" With this, the attacker was completely stunned, and Remus could turn his attention to the woman he loved, who had since crumpled to the floor in a heap of shaking and sobbing fear. Remus dropped to the floor and gathered her into his arms, holding her head to his chest and whispering that everything was going to be okay. She had charmed her own voice back just in time to save them both. She was crying so hard. Fat teardrops fell from her eyes and her narrow shoulders shook from the force of fear and anxiety leaving her soul. She took large gasps of air as she cried; trying desperately to control herself but it wasn't working. Remus was torn between unquenchable anger and unfathomable pain and sadness. My God, whoever this was, he was going to pay.  
Minerva felt his tense position, and at the moment, it scared her more. She attempted to inch away from Remus, curling up into a tighter ball. He dropped his gaze back down to her, the rage quickly draining from his eyes. He softened his hold on her slightly and she flung herself at him again, tears coming anew.  
"Minerva.Minerva, hush.I won't let anyone hurt you. Ever again." Alas, how simple it was to say that, but how could it be true? She said nothing; just let the onslaught of tears take over. Remus slowly moved away.  
"Hold on, love. Let me figure out who this no-good, bastardly little rat is." The rage was evident in his voice again, and it scared her. She let him go, watching through her tears as he approached the still figure. He savagely ripped away the robes and Minerva could hear him suck in a breath.  
"Well. If it isn't the rat himself." Minerva was startled out of tears. Peter Pettigrew!? She crawled forward on her hands and knees to get a better look at Remus, who was crouching by Wormtail's side, his hand on his wand. He glanced up and all emotion was gone from his light brown eyes.something she had never seen before.  
"Minerva," he questioned softly, placing a foot on Wormtail as he rose. "Are you well enough to fetch Dumbledore?" She merely nodded, rising to her feet, still shaking violently. She grasped the edge of her desk for support, taking steadying breaths before quietly exiting the room. 


	4. Chapter 4

As Minerva's steps faded into the distance, Remus returned his attention to the unconscious man on the floor. With a cold look of malice he said, "Enervate," and Peter gasped as he came back to life.  
"Remus! Remus, old man! What are you doing here?" he asked innocently as he panted.  
"What-were-you-thinking?" Remus said slowly, his voice hovering above a growl as he crouched down over him, increasing the pressure on Peter's chest, "Who are you working for now?" Sudden fear penetrated Peter's eyes. Then, as soon as it had come, it melted away into heartless, instinct- driven malice.  
"You can't tell me that you never wanted a piece of that," said Peter, "We all knew her when she was a younger woman. She was 25 when she started teaching here, Remus, we all talked about what it would be like to hit that." Peter didn't get another word in because Remus was on him again, this time, he didn't need a wand. Remus used every ounce of power in his arms to punch Peter in the face-repeatedly.  
By the time Professor Dumbledore arrived, Peter's lip and nose were bleeding, and Remus had not even begun to run out of steam yet. He had to stun Remus to get him to stop. Remus awoke in the hospital wing, Dumbledore standing over him. His voice still groggy with weakness, Remus uttered the first word that came to his mind, "Minerva? Where is she?"  
Dumbledore frowned slightly. Remus had gotten carried away and ever since, Madam Pomfrey had spent two hours using her healing spells to reconstruct Peter Pettigrew's face. Up to that point, she had been examining and tending to a distraught Minerva McGonagall. It had taken all that Poppy had to keep from rearranging Peter's face further after she had examined Minerva. Even the lightest of Poppy's touches had seemed to cause pain for her best friend, something that Poppy didn't deal with well.  
"Tell Poppy not to waste too much of her time on him," Remus muttered.  
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked simply. His voice betrayed not a softness about him tonight. He was plainly angry.  
"You would have done the same thing, Professor," said Remus as he began to explain the events that had transpired. Remus regained his strength as he finished the story and rose from the cot he had been placed on. He went and stood over the bed where Peter lay and the man opened his eyes, the swelling gone thanks to Madam Pomfrey.  
"I'll ask you again," Remus said coolly, "Who sent you to do this?"  
"She was a little looser than I expected, Remus. Wait a minute, you broke her in for me, didn't you?" Peter replied. It didn't take more than a second for Remus to produce his wand and point it directly between Peter's eyes.  
"Avada Kedavra..Avada Kedavra.Just say it! Get it over with! Put the bastard out of his misery! Defend Minerva's honor!" Remus' mind screamed. But he also realized just as quickly that if he did kill Peter, he would go to Azkaban for the rest of his life, and he couldn't let that happen. He knew Minerva would blame herself if that ever happened, and he couldn't have that. Remus was clenching his teeth and breathing hard as he thought about what he was about to do.  
"What's wrong, Remus," asked Peter, "Lose your nerve in the last few years?" Remus was still pointing the wand at Peter, his only surviving childhood friend, fighting the battle of conscience. He, Remus would be the sole surviving Marauder. But on the other hand, James and Sirius had both died at least in part by Peter's betrayal. He had to do something! But he thought of Minerva, her blue eyes wide with fear, and decided that his energies were better spent on defense rather than offense.  
"If you-ever-touch her again, I will slice off what's left of your genitals and feed them to Hagrid's latest hybrid," said Remus, "and then I'll feed the rest of you to it." With this, Remus returned his wand to the pocket of his robes. Dumbledore made sure that wizards from the Ministry were on their way to take Peter into custody. They were going to have a field day with him. How had he gotten into Hogwart's? By whose order had he come to accost Minerva? The head of the interrogation unit at the Ministry had promised to send him an owl with everything he wanted to know about the situation, but it would not change the fact that his most trusted friend had been compromised.  
Slowly, Dumbledore walked to Minerva's bedside and looked over her. She slept fitfully, occasionally tossing her head from side to side as she battled her dreams. Albus took her hand and kissed it. The tinge of fire in his blue eyes seemed to subside when he looked at her, feeling infinitely like he could have done more for her than he had, but short of allowing Remus to kill Peter, there was little he could do for her now. When he left the hospital wing, Remus was leaning over Minerva, stroking her face and gently kissing her. Part of him was glad that Remus had beaten Peter to a pulp.  
Minerva looked up at Remus, lightly kissing him back as she took his hand in her own.  
"Your hands!" she whimpered, seeing that his knuckles were bruised and bleeding, "Remus, what happened?" Remus debated telling her. He wasn't sure what her reaction would be.  
"It wouldn't do any good to lie to you, Minerva. After you left, Peter said some terrible things about you. I couldn't help myself, love," Remus said. Minerva looked up in shock. Thanks to the curtain dividing her bed from the rest of the room, she couldn't see that Peter was in the same room as she was, but with the bruises and this new information, she put two and two together.  
"Remus, you."  
Remus stroked her cheek again as tears spilled anew. He gently kissed them from her face and held her. He braced himself for what was sure to be a rocky next few months. She was going to need all the support he could muster. 


End file.
